Burn to Ashes
by Aurora Nozomi
Summary: “Tell me… When you think of fire, what comes to mind?” Fay Young had just about forgotten her past. That is until she is sent on a mission to a town near her old home where she finds someone who will turn her whole life around. OC alert!
1. Chapter 1

This is my first story, please don't be harsh. This is kinda the prologue...umm...enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-Man

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The thick smoke in the air was suffocating them both. The fire had unpleasantly woken them up from their slumber and the scene before them was devastating. Fire crawled up the walls and devoured everything in its path, showing no mercy and they would be next if they didn't get out soon.

_The heat was excruciating and the walls looked just about ready to collapse. __B__oth of them ran outside coughing and wheezing when the elder realized their mother wasn't out yet and went back in to get her._

"_Get out!" the woman pleaded with her eight year old daughter, still lying in her bed._

"_Mom! Come on!" the girl said trying to pull on her mother's arm._

"_There's no time! Please! Go!" she urged. _

_There was no way an eight year old would be able to carry a fully grown woman to the exit by herself. The house was already fully engulfed in the flames and they were surrounded by blazing walls. _

"_Take this..." The mother said as she took off her necklace and handed it to her daughter and pushed her away. The girl scampered outside without her mother, fire at her heals. Once outside, the winter chill gave relief from the fire's warmth as both children watched their home finally collapse. Their mother's final words were echoing in the elder's ears as they watched some ash and cinder blow away._

"_Take care. I love you both."_

..::~::..

In the snow covered town a few miles away, a dense smoke could be seen rising in the location of the burning home. The orange light from the fire that lit up the night sky like a sunset died down and the town's people stood to stare in wonder.

The two children were seen standing in front of pile of burning wood that used to be their little home. The younger of the two was sitting down in the mushy snow, sobbing uncontrollably as her home turned to ashes. Her tiny five year old hands wiped at the tears her innocent, dark brown eyes shed as her head was bent down, leaving her long black hair to cover her face. Her sister just stood there staring wide-eyed at her burning house, dumbfounded at the events that just took place.

The fire had started so suddenly and had spread so quickly. Their ill mother wasn't even able to get out of bed. The tears starting creeping down the older child's face as she thought how things could have ended differently.

'_If I was with mom in the beginning, I could have gotten her out in time…If Alina wasn't born mom wouldn't even have been sick! I can even bet that it was the lantern she lit that caused the fire!' _She thought to herself, pinning the blame on the younger.

"Mama, where are you?" Alina whimpered, her voice barely audible over the roar of the flames and the crackling wood. Her sister clenched her fists. Even the sound of her voice pissed her off.

"She's not coming out." the older growled, trying to hold back the rage.

"Why not, Onee-chan?" Alina questioned.

"Why? She was so sick after having you that she couldn't even get up! She's dead, idiot!" she snapped. Fresh new tears were forming in Alina's red, swollen eyes.

"Onee-"

"Don't call me that! A monster like you isn't my sister." the elder one hissed. She turned her back towards her sister and started walking in the direction of the town.

"Don't follow me. Go die for all I care." She growled as she continued walking, not even sparing a glance at her bawling sister.

"Onee-chan! Fay nee-chan! D-don't leave me behind!" Alina screamed as she choked back her sobs as much as possible. Sitting in the snow next to what was left of her burning house, she watched her sister's retreating back in the distance.

Looking down, Alina caught a glimpse of a necklace Fay had dropped, the necklace she saw their mom wearing every day. She reached for it, the only memento she had left from her family. Sobbing quietly to herself as she held on tightly to the jewel, she lost consciousness, falling into a world of darkness.

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OK...that was an epic failure...I plan on this story to get better but I can only try and hope....Sorry if I wasted your time. Don't kill me.

Review please? Give me pointers and tell me how I'm doing (Should I continue or is this story a lost cause? )

Better yet...someone be my beta. (You can see how much I need one. I NEED HELP!) =p

Next chapter (or 1st chapter) takes place 11 years later and might come next week...I don't know yet because I'm going out of town...


	2. Chapter 2

Here is the official chapter 1! Hehe sorry for extremely late update. ~points at a pile of books collecting dust~ Blame the homework overload......that I should probably be doing right now....oops.

Thanks to Hikyrrou for being my beta!!!... and reviewing!!! =]

Disclaimer: Don't own...isn't that obvious? ~rolls eyes~

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_Chapter 1: The Encounter_

_11 years later..._

"-ay. Fay. Fay!" Lenalee screamed in said person's ear, trying to wake her up. The train compartment they were in was very roomy and comfortable and Fay had lain down and fallen asleep, leaving Lenalee to play the role of alarm-clock.

"Fay! We're almost there! Wake up!" Lenalee yelled while trying to shake her awake.

"Ng, Okay okay. I'm up." Fay said groggily as she rubbed her eye with the palm of her hand. She sat up and stretched her arms out above her, giving a huge yawn in the process.

"Jeez, you're such a deep sleeper! I've been trying to wake you up for forever!" Lenalee complained.

"You'd think you'd be used to it by now, having a brother like Komui and all…" Fay yawned again, resting her head on her fist against the window.

"He's a handful by himself; I don't need two people to take care of like that." Lenalee sighed, cringing at flashbacks of waking her brother.

"I'm hurt. Don't you care about me?" Fay pouted, blinking her eyes rapidly.

Lenalee rolled her eyes. "No." She joked as she stuck her tongue out at Fay.

"How cruel." Fay frowned.

"So what's this mission about?" she asked, getting up from her seat to retrieve her luggage.

"People have been reporting cases of a lot fires in the area… kind of." Lenalee informed, getting her luggage, too, acting as if Fay's mood swing was normal.

"What do you mean 'kind of'?" she asked with a questioning look.

"People see the smoke but don't actually see the fire when they get there. Just the burn marks."

"So there's either innocence here or a psychotic person." Fay said to herself, walking out the door, luggage in hand with Lenalee following close behind.

"Nobody has reported seeing anyone in the vicinity though."

"Huh…weird. Maybe they ran away?"

"Maybe…hey now that I think about it… isn't this your hometown Fay?" Lenalee questioned, looking in the manila folder again.

"Close enough, my house was actually in the outskirts of town. This is just where General Nine picked me up." Fay explained.

"Oh, do you want to visit your family?" Lenalee asked as they stepped off the train and onto the platform.

"My dad left when I was little and my mom died in a fire. That's why I was in this town when the General picked me up. I was actually looking for a job." She said while looking around the town for the hotel.

"I'm sorry. This must be a difficult case for you. Did you have any sibli-"

"What do you want to do first? Check into a hotel or look for clues?" Fay cut her off.

"Why not look for clues first?" she answered hesitantly. _'She might not want to talk about it.'_ Lenalee thought to herself, eyeing Fay to make sure she was ok.

"Gottcha. Let's split up and ask around the shops first. We could get food while we're at it and meet back at the hotel at six, 'kay?" Fay offered.

"Okay." Lenalee said as they split up and went in different directions. _'She seems fine…I hope.'_

..::~::..

_Two hours later,_

**_Boom!_**

The explosion echoed throughout the town as smoke rose up from the south. Fay stopped on the sidewalk and turned to view the smoke.

"Not again." A nearby woman in her thirties sighed, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Those fires have been happening a lot recently at the edge of town," she informed.

"Do you know what's causing it? Or seen someone suspicions?" Fay questioned.

"No clue. They've always happened on the edge of town or further out, never in town. Can't say I'm not grateful for that though." The woman replied. "I'm not sure about seeing someone suspicious but you could ask Lynn about that. She's always at the sight in minutes."

Fay raised an eyebrow. _'Wouldn't that be considered suspicious?'_ "Has anyone considered she's been setting the fire?"

"Of course not! She's the sweetest person around and she's terrified of fire."

"So then why does she go to the sights it occurs at?"

"I'm not too sure. Her logic is weird. She says she wants to find out who is starting them to stop them and that she's fine because the fire is always out when she gets there. I can bet she's over there right now if you want to talk to her." The woman said while jabbing her thumb in the direction of the smoke.

"I'm gonna go there now. Thanks for your help." Fay called back as she started running towards the smoke.

..::~::..

Fay met up with Lenalee along the way to the scene. Dodging the trees and sprinting through the knee high grass at top speed, they were getting close and could smell the smoke through the forest. The trees had lightened up a little and they could see a few fallen ones that looked like they had been knocked down and were smoldering from the flames. Fire alone couldn't have caused this sight. It looked as if a battle had occurred; the broken trunks were sharp and jagged as if snapped like a twig. The fire had burned a lot, nonetheless. The trunks were charcoal and none of the leaves remained. Even the surrounding grass had been reduced to nothing but ash.

"Damn. Not again." A girl sighed. Her long black hair was tied up in a high pony tail except for the bangs that covered her eyes. Her hands were clenched into a tight fist as she glared at the burnt remains. She had sweat running down her face and her teeth were clenched.

"That was too close. I could have lost control," she growled to herself.

"What are you talking about?" Fay asked casually while approaching the girl.

Surprised, she looked up at Fay with wide eyes causing Fay to stop short the second their eyes met. Something about her felt strange…yet familiar.

"Who are you?" the girl asked while getting into a fighting stance; a metal pole the size of a pen clenched in her fist.

"Whoa! Calm down." Fay joked, raising her hands up away from the whip on her waist playfully, obviously not threatened by what could pass off as an office supply. "I'm Fay and this is Lenalee" she explained, motioning to said person behind her. "You must be Lynn, right?"

"Y-yeah…" Lynn lowered her guard slightly and stared at her with wonder.

'_Found our psychotic person…'_ Fay grinned to herself.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Fay asked, raising an eyebrow at Lynn's actions.

"No, sorry." She said, snapping out of it. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking out what happened. You?"

"Same."

"Interesting. What where you talking about before I interrupted? Something about losing control?"

"Umm…" Lynn hesitated, clearly getting nervous.

"Fay! Akuma!" Lenalee warned. Her Dark Boots were already activated as she ran towards the approaching creatures. Lynn got into a fighting stance once again and held up the metal pole, this time facing the akuma. Fay sweat dropped at the sight…was she really intending to fight with an office supply?

She was slightly shocked when said 'office supply' grew longer and a spear formed at the top as Lynn charged to where Lenalee and the akuma were. Shrugging it off like it was a normal sight to see, Fay grabbed the whip at her side and flicked her wrist in the direction of an akuma. Once trapped in the rope, it was flung through the air into its fellow unsuspecting companions with ease. Lenalee was in the air, slamming into the akuma one by one at an incredible speed and filled with grace.

Lynn's performance on the other hand wasn't closest thing to graceful, but just as efficient. She lunged at each oncoming enemy with great brutality, however very clumsily. She was already tired from whatever she was doing before the battle and was panting before Fay and Lenalee even broke a sweat. A couple of akuma, three level 1's and one level 2, realized this and surrounded Lynn. Cornered, Lynn panicked and backed up against a tree as the akuma advanced.

Both Lenalee and Fay noticed but were too far away to aid her in time. Lynn pointed her spear at the enemies and mumbled something inaudible and soon the four akuma were in flames, screaming at the top of their lungs. Lynn was staring at the level 2, her eyes locked in concentration, making sure it didn't make a comeback. The level 1's had already fallen and had caught nearby trees on fire without Lynn's immediate awareness. When she did notice, she quickly tried to extinguish the flames. The flames slowly grew smaller and retreated, leaving smoldering tree bark, smoke and ashes in its wake.

"Wow." Fay said while coming up to Lynn, the last of the akuma finished off.

"That was amazing, Lynn!" Lenalee cheered as she landed on the ground.

"What part? When I got cornered or when I almost burnt down the forest...again." Lynn grumbled, glancing around to inspect the damage. "I gotta go." She mumbled as she walked past them. Fay and Lenalee exchanged confused, worried glances before following her back to town.

..::~::..

"Slow down!" Fay wheezed as Lenalee gave her a pitiful look of sympathy.

Lynn had gotten far ahead of them and they had to run to keep up. Lenalee, having her innocence, could easily keep up but Fay on the other hand, was beat. Her knees were slightly bent as she held on knee above the other for support, panting like there was no tomorrow.

"Wasn't she…tired…a few…minutes ago?" Fay gasped in between breaths. "Where…the _hell_…did her…energy…come from?"

Lenalee looked worriedly at her friend who looked just about ready to pass out. "I don't know. She looks like she's in a hurry." Lenalee said while looking at the house Lynn had run into.

"Really? I hadn't notice…" Fay said sarcastically as she fell on the ground. Lenalee glanced at her and rolled her eyes.

"Are you okay?" a woman asked, coming out of the house Lynn had gone in. Fay lifted her head off the ground to look at the approaching woman and gave a weak grin.

"Oh! You're from before!" the woman said once she saw Fay's face. "Why don't you come inside?" she offered.

Once inside, Fay and Lenalee took a seat on the couch as the woman, who introduced herself as Cydney sat on the seat across from them.

"Do you know what happened to Lynn?" Cydney asked looking concerned.

"No, she just took off suddenly, saying she had to go." Lenalee answered looking just as worried.

"Maybe she had to go to the bathroom…" Fay said absent-mindedly as her eyes wandered around the room. Lenalee jabbed her in the ribs with her elbow.

"Be serious!" Lenalee whispered, glaring at Fay.

"Jeez, sorry," Fay said while getting up and looking around the room.

"Fay! Don't invade on their privacy!" Lenalee growled.

"It's ok. Don't worry about it." Cydney laughed at the bickering.

"Yeah Lena. Don't worry about it," Fay mocked. Lenalee turned to glare at Fay which turned into a pout as Fay stuck her tongue out.

"Actually, if you don't mind, could you check on Lynn for me?" Cydney said while trying to hold back giggles.

"Sure. Where is she?" Fay asked.

"Upstairs and down the hall. Her room is the door to the left."

"'Kay."

Lenalee and Cydney watched as Fay disappeared up the stairs.

"I'm sorry about that. She's a little immature." Lenalee apologized.

"It's fine. You reminded me of when I fought with my cousin."

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah. Caleb Thompson. He loved to joke around and tease me all the time. I thought he was pulling off another prank when told me he found a little girl and was going to take her in."

"Why are you talking in past tense when you talk about him?"

"Unfortunately he passed away in an accident. That's why Lynn is living with me."

"Lynn? She's adopted?"

"Yeah."

..::~::..

Meanwhile, Fay headed up to Lynn's room and could hear rustling from inside. Fay poked her head in the door to see Lynn digging through her wardrobe. Seeing that she didn't notice her, Fay slipped in and sat on the edge of her bed, next to her luggage that she was packing. With a wide grin, she waited until Lynn noticed her.

Lynn's reaction was better than Fay could have asked for. The second she turned around with a handful of clothes, Lynn squeaked with shock, jumped a foot in the air and dropped her clothes. Fay burst out laughing at Lynn's reaction and clutched her sides. Once realizing who it was, Lynn pouted and started picking up her clothes.

"I don't see what's so funny." She frowned.

"Y-you squeak! A-and you should have seen your face! It was something like this." Fay laughed and started making impersonations of Lynn's face. Lynn ignored her and continued picking up her clothes when her necklace fell from out from her shirt. The heart shaped pendent dangled from her neck and caught Fay's attention. She immediately stopped laughing and recognized it as her mother's necklace she had dropped years ago.

"Where did you get that necklace?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"This?" Lynn asked as she grabbed the necklace. "My mother used to wear this all the time. I found it in the snow when my sister left."

Fay was stunned. _'No…this can't be.'_

"Alina?" she questioned. Lynn looked up from her necklace, responding to her given name.

"The monster that killed mom." Fay just about growled, staring at Lynn with cold, judging eyes. Realization hit Lynn like a ton of rocks, her eyes widened as she started at her sister.

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A/N: I'm so proud of myself! This turned out long! Once again, please review!

~Rereads story~ Happy moment gone...It's not as great as I thought it was and now I actually have to do my homework. ~looks at pile again~...I'm hungry. I'll eat instead =] mmMMmm...fffooooooddd ~gets yelled at for procrastinating~


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